Dodgers Are Twice the Team Cubs Are

The Dodgers are about 10 straight division titles and seven Cy Young Awards away from being compared to the Atlanta Braves and their rotation of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Co., but they have to like how they match up in the arms race so far this season.

One superb start seems to beget another for the Dodgers, who threw two more gems at the hapless Chicago Cubs on Sunday to sweep a doubleheader, 5-4 and 4-1, before 35,527 in frigid Wrigley Field.

Braving 40-degree temperatures and 22-mph winds on a gloomy, overcast day, left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii limited the Cubs to one run and three hits in seven innings of the opener, striking out eight and walking three to improve to 5-0, the best start for a Dodger starting pitcher since Orel Hershiser began 1985 with a 5-0 mark.

Right-hander Andy Ashby then blanked the Cubs on one hit for eight innings in the nightcap, striking out eight and walking none to give the Dodgers a sweep of the three-game series, a 5-1 trip through Pittsburgh and Chicago and a share of first place with Arizona in the National League West.

With Odalis Perez’s one-hit shutout of Chicago on Friday, Dodger starters combined to give up one run and five hits in 24 innings of the series, striking out 22 and walking three, for a 3-0 record and 0.38 earned-run average.

Granted, this came against a struggling Cub team that has scored the fewest runs in the league and is off to an 8-15 start. But Dodger starters have combined for a 15-7 record and 2.51 ERA on the season, and that includes only three starts by their ace, Kevin Brown, who will return from the disabled list Tuesday.

“I think they’re feeding off each other,” pitching coach Jim Colborn said. “They have pride, they have high standards that are realizable, and their expectations are higher. Once they do it, they see what’s possible.”

Left fielder Brian Jordan, who played the last three seasons in Atlanta, wouldn’t go so far as to compare the Dodger and Brave rotations, but he is not shocked by what his new teammates have accomplished.

“It’s not amazing because the expectations are so high,” Jordan said. “We have six starters who expect to go out and win every night, and we expect them to keep us in the game. That’s what they’ve been doing.

“And now the offense is starting to come around and put pressure on the other team, and that’s a good thing to do.”

Jordan hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning of the first game and doubled and scored the Dodgers’ first run of the nightcap. The Dodgers got contributions from their bench--reserve catcher Chad Kreuter had two hits, including a run-scoring single, in the first game; reserve infielder Alex Cora had a run-scoring single and tripled and scored in the second game, and utility infielder Dave Hansen had an RBI double in the nightcap.

The second game was never in doubt. Ashby’s sinkers and cut fastballs had good life, and only one Cub reached second base against him. Hansen (double) and Cora (single) knocked in runs in the fourth, and Cora (triple), Cesar Izturis (RBI double) and Paul Lo Duca (RBI single) keyed a two-run rally in the eighth.

But the Dodgers almost blew the opener, a game they appeared to lock up when Jordan, who has reached base in 20 consecutive games, lined a three-run home run into the left-field bleachers off reliever Jeff Fassero in the ninth, turning a tight 2-1 game into a 5-1 lead.

Closer Eric Gagne was warming up during the rally, which included pinch-hitter Marquis Grissom’s leadoff single and Shawn Green’s RBI single, and as soon as Jordan’s homer cleared the wall, Tracy ordered Gagne to sit and set-up man Giovanni Carrara to resume throwing.

Moments later, after Sammy Sosa led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Moises Alou hammered a two-run homer off Carrara, pulling the Cubs within 5-3, Tracy summoned Gagne.

Gagne struck out Alex Gonzalez, but Mark Bellhorn walked. Pinch-hitter Roosevelt Brown doubled off the right-center-field wall to score Bellhorn and make it 5-4, the first run Gagne has yielded this season.

But Gagne recovered to strike out pinch-hitters Todd Hundley and Fred McGriff for his ninth save in nine opportunities,, one behind major league leader Mike Williams of Pittsburgh.

“We had another taste of his poise as a young closer,” Tracy said. “He knew he made a bad pitch [on a high changeup] to Brown and regrouped very nicely and pitched tremendously well to Hundley and McGriff.”

If Gagne is giving Tracy a taste of his poise, the Dodger rotation is giving the manager a heaping portion of it.

“It’s neat to watch them feed off each other,” Tracy said. “It’s a wonderful competition, and it’s healthy for the club. It’s a can-you-top-this situation, and that’s OK.”

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*--* 115 6.2 7.7 2.43 Lucky 13 After starting the season 6-6, the Dodgers have gone 10-3 and are tied for first place in the NL West. A look at key numbers during the first 12 games and the last 13: TEAM BATTING AB RPG HPG HR AVG First 12 Games (6-6 record) 388 3.42 8.0 7 247 Since (10-3) 441 4.92 9.5 11 281 TEAM PITCHING IP H/9IP SO/9IP ERA First 12 Games 105 7.2 6.5 3.51 Since

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*--* 0-0 5 7.0 3.2 8.4 2.10 STARTING ROTATION W-L IP H/9IP BB/9IP SO/9IP ERA First 12 Games 5-4 65 6.2 4.2 7.6 2.49 Since 10-3 891/3 6.1 3.0 7.5 2.52 BULLPEN W-L SV H/9IP BB/9IP SO/9IP ERA First 12 Games 1-2 4 9.2 1.8 5.2 5.18 Since

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